2015 SAFF Championship

Last updated

2015 SAFF Championship
2015 SAFF Suzuki Cup
2015SAFFSuzukiCuplogo.png
2015 SAFF Championship official logo
Tournament details
Host countryIndia
Dates23 December 2015 – 3 January 2016
Teams7 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
ChampionsFlag of India.svg  India (7th title)
Runners-upFlag of Afghanistan (2004-2021).svg  Afghanistan
Tournament statistics
Matches played12
Goals scored44 (3.67 per match)
Top scorer(s) Flag of Afghanistan (2004-2021).svg Khaibar Amani (4 goals)
Best player(s) Flag of India.svg Sunil Chhetri
← 2013
2018 →

The 2015 SAFF Championship (officially known as the SAFF Suzuki Cup 2015 [1] for sponsorship reasons) was the 11th edition of the SAFF Championship, the biennial international men's football championship of South Asia organized by SAFF. It was held in India from 23 December 2015 to 3 January 2016. [2]

Contents

Heading into the tournament, Afghanistan were the defending champions of the tournament, with it also being the last time they can officially take part, as they have become members of the newly formed Central Asian Football Association. [3]

Originally scheduled to take place in July 2015, monsoon season and schedule congestion led to the tournament being postponed to late December. [2] The tournament saw no participation from Pakistan, who withdrew from the tournament in November 2015 due a dispute within the nation's football federation. [4]

India was chosen as the host nation on 10 September 2013 with the host venue to be decided between Delhi and Kerala. [5] In July 2015, it was announced that matches during the tournament would be held at the Trivandrum International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. [2] This is the third time in which India has hosted the tournament, when it was known as the Gold Cup in 1999 and under the current name in 2011.

Participating nations

Apart from hosts India, six other South Asian nations participated in the tournament, with Pakistan being the only nation not participating. There was no reason cited by the PFF but issues with the federation's elections have forced the courts to prohibit any activities. [6]

Participating nations The participating nations (Pakistan did not participate). 2015 SAFF Championship participating countries.PNG
Participating nations The participating nations (Pakistan did not participate).
CountryAppearancePrevious best performance FIFA ranking
Dec 2015
Flag of India.svg  India (Host)11thChampions (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011)166
Flag of Afghanistan (2004-2021).svg  Afghanistan 8thChampions (2013)150
Flag of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh 10thChampions (2003)182
Flag of Bhutan.svg  Bhutan 7thSemi-finals (2008)188
Flag of Maldives.svg  Maldives 9thChampions (2008)160
Flag of Nepal.svg    Nepal 11thThird-place (1993)192
Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka 11thChampions (1995)194

Venue

On 2 July 2015, it was announced that the matches during the tournament would take place at the newly constructed Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. [2] [7]

Thiruvananthapuram
Trivandrum International Stadium
Capacity: 55,000
Greenfield Stadium.jpg

Squads


Broadcasting

The tournament was broadcast live in India on STAR Sports 4, Kantipur Television Network in Nepal, Lemar TV and Tolo TV in Afghanistan. Gazi TV in Bangladesh, Bhutan Broadcasting Service in Bhutan and Television Maldives in Maldives. Every match was broadcast live on YouTube. [8]

Group stage

All times are local, IST (UTC+5:30).

Group A

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsStatus
1Flag of India.svg  India (H)220061+56Qualified for semi-finals
2Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka 210112−13
3Flag of Nepal.svg    Nepal 200215−40
Source: soccerway.com
(H) Host
Nepal    Flag of Nepal.svg0–1Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka
Report Rifnas Soccerball shade.svg90+5'
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Attendance: 200
Referee: Jameel Juma Abdulhusain (Bahrain)
Sri Lanka  Flag of Sri Lanka.svg0–2Flag of India.svg  India
Report Singh Soccerball shade.svg51', 73'
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Attendance: 6,417
Referee: Hiroyuki Kimura (Japan)
India  Flag of India.svg4–1Flag of Nepal.svg    Nepal
Borges Soccerball shade.svg26'
Chhetri Soccerball shade.svg68'
Chhangte Soccerball shade.svg81', 90'		 Report Magar Soccerball shade.svg3'
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Attendance: 8,093
Referee: Jameel Juma Abdulhusain (Bahrain)

Group B

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsStatus
1Flag of Afghanistan (2004-2021).svg  Afghanistan 3300111+109Qualified for semi-finals
2Flag of Maldives.svg  Maldives 320176+16
3Flag of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh 310247−33
4Flag of Bhutan.svg  Bhutan 300319−80
Source: soccerway.com
Maldives  Flag of Maldives.svg3–1Flag of Bhutan.svg  Bhutan
Imaz Soccerball shade.svg9'
Abdulla Soccerball shade.svg31'
Ashfaq Soccerball shade.svg70'		 Report Dorji Soccerball shade.svg20'
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Attendance: 4,000
Referee: Sudish Pandey (Nepal)
Afghanistan  Flag of Afghanistan (2004-2021).svg4–0Flag of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh
Saighani Soccerball shade.svg30'
Shayesteh Soccerball shade.svg32'
Amiri Soccerball shade.svg40'
Amani Soccerball shade.svg69'		 Report
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Attendance: 150
Referee: Pranjal Banerjee (India)
Bangladesh  Flag of Bangladesh.svg1–3Flag of Maldives.svg  Maldives
Biswas Soccerball shade.svg86' Report Ashfaq Soccerball shade.svg42' (pen.)
Hassan Soccerball shade.svg90'
Nashid Soccerball shade.svg90+5'
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Attendance: 3,654
Referee: Võ Minh Trí (Vietnam)
Bhutan  Flag of Bhutan.svg0–3Flag of Afghanistan (2004-2021).svg  Afghanistan
Report Amani Soccerball shade.svg14', 51'
Saighani Soccerball shade.svg42'
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Attendance: 1,817
Referee: Nivon Robesh Gamini (Sri Lanka)
Bhutan  Flag of Bhutan.svg0–3Flag of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh
Report Barman Soccerball shade.svg8'
Rony Soccerball shade.svg24' (pen.), 67'
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Attendance: 218
Referee: Pranjal Banerjee (India)
Afghanistan  Flag of Afghanistan (2004-2021).svg4–1Flag of Maldives.svg  Maldives
Shayesteh Soccerball shade.svg20'
Popalzay Soccerball shade.svg34', 54'
Hatifi Soccerball shade.svg51'		 Report Fasir Soccerball shade.svg32'
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Attendance: 1,751
Referee: Nivon Robesh Gamini (Sri Lanka)

Knockout phase

Bracket

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
31 Dec – Thiruvananthapuram
 
 
Flag of India.svg  India 3
 
3 Jan – Thiruvananthapuram
 
Flag of Maldives.svg  Maldives 2
 
Flag of India.svg  India (a.e.t.)2
 
31 Dec – Thiruvananthapuram
 
Flag of Afghanistan (2004-2021).svg  Afghanistan 1
 
Flag of Afghanistan (2004-2021).svg  Afghanistan 5
 
 
Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka 0
 

Semi-finals

India  Flag of India.svg3–2Flag of Maldives.svg  Maldives
Chhetri Soccerball shade.svg25'
Lalpekhlua Soccerball shade.svg34', 66'		 Report Nashid Soccerball shade.svg45+2'
Amdhan Ali Soccerball shade.svg75'
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Attendance: 31,716
Referee: Võ Minh Trí (Vietnam)
Afghanistan  Flag of Afghanistan (2004-2021).svg5–0Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka
Hashemi Soccerball shade.svg45+1'
Taher Soccerball shade.svg50'
Amani Soccerball shade.svg56' (pen.)
Hatifi Soccerball shade.svg78'
Shayesteh Soccerball shade.svg89'		 Report
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Attendance: 300
Referee: Sudhish Pandey (Nepal)

Final

India  Flag of India.svg2–1 (a.e.t.)Flag of Afghanistan (2004-2021).svg  Afghanistan
Lalpekhlua Soccerball shade.svg72'
Chhetri Soccerball shade.svg101'		 Report Amiri Soccerball shade.svg70'
Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Attendance: 40,500
Referee: Hiroyuki Kimura (Japan)

Champion

 SAFF Championship 2015 
Flag of India.svg
India
Seventh title

Awards

The following awards were given for the 2015 SAFF Championship. [9]

Fair Play Award Most Valuable Player Golden Boot Award
Flag of Maldives.svg  Maldives Flag of India.svg Sunil Chhetri Flag of Afghanistan (2004-2021).svg Khaibar Amani

Goalscorers

4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal

Team statistics

This table shows all team performance.

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts
Final
1Flag of India.svg  India 4400114+712
2Flag of Afghanistan (2004-2021).svg  Afghanistan 5401173+1412
Semi-finals
3Flag of Maldives.svg  Maldives 42029906
4Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka 310217-63
Eliminated in the group stage
5Flag of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh 310247−33
6Flag of Nepal.svg    Nepal 200215−40
7Flag of Bhutan.svg  Bhutan 300319−80

Source: [10]

Controversies

During the first match of the tournament, both Sri Lanka and Nepal were wearing the same dark red jersey in the first half before Nepal changed into their blue second-kit for the second half.

Sponsorship

On 14 September 2015 it was announced that Suzuki would be the title sponsor of the SAFF Championship for 2015. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Suzuki Motor Corporation to sponsor SAFF Football Championship 2015". Times of India. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Chaudhuri, Arunava (2 July 2015). "Trivandrum will host upcoming SAFF Cup in December 2015/January 2016". SportsKeeda. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  3. ↑ "Afghanistan FA Secretary General Sayed Alireza Aghazada: This is our last Participation in SAFF Championship". GoalNepal. 23 February 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  4. ↑ "Pakistan Withdraw From SAFF Cup Football in Kerala". NDTV Sports. 23 November 2015. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  5. ↑ "India to host 2015 SAFF Cup". Times of India. 10 September 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  6. ↑ "Pak withdraw from SAFF". NDTV Sports. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  7. ↑ India win 2015 SAFF Championship title thedailystar.net. Retrieved 22 August 2021
  8. ↑ "TV Channels Broadcasting SAFF Championship 2015 Live Coverage". SportsCola. 5 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  9. ↑ "Video of the award presentation". YouTube. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  10. ↑ "South Asian Championship 2015/16 (Trivandrum)" . Retrieved 11 December 2021.
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